Chapter 3: The Loose Cannon
Ed's PoV
"Well, Al," Ed started as the two of them trudged up to Central Headquarters. "I guess we gotta tell that bastard Colonel what we heard. Which was a whole lot of nothing." He sighed, squinting in the light of the sunset that glared into his eyes.
"Don't be like that, brother. At least we know her name." Al shrugged with a slight smile in his voice.
His brother's words didn't make Ed feel any better. As he halted at the top, he decided to tell Alphonse his thoughts about the girl. "Hey, Al, did you see how she transmuted that wall into silver?" Al nodded, not having really looked at it himself, but now realized what that shiny substance had been. "Well, only the Philosopher's Stone could do something like that, so I think there's a chance she might have it."
"Brother," Al's voice held mixed emotions as he spoke, beginning slowly. "I know you have the right motives, but I think you're being a bit irrational," he admitted tentatively.
"I'm not irrational, Al!" Ed snapped. "You saw it too, and I know you felt that weird...vibe of hers. You did, right? I'm not going crazy." Ed's voice got almost dangerously low at the end there.
"I'm sorry, Ed, but she just seemed like a nice girl. I didn't notice anything odd about her other than that she wasn't hurt after the explosion." Al replied with a quiet, fragile voice. "No 'vibes'."
Ed grunted, shoved his hands in his pockets, bowed his head, then started toward the steps. All these clues are leading somewhere, Ed told himself silently. and I'm going to figure it out.
Just as Ed passed through Headquarters' doors, the same girl he'd been pondering over bumped into him. He stumbled back, golden eyes meeting blue and green for a moment before the girl let hers fall to the ground. "Uh, I-I'm sorry," she stammered shyly, which reminded him of how Al acted when he bumped into someone on the road.
"No, you're fine," Al answered as though she were talking to him. "We were just going to see Mustang to tell him about you; fancy meeting you right out here." A smile slipped into his voice.
Ed nudged him lightly, a bit annoyed at how he so easily revealed what they were up to. Why must Al go around telling people exactly what were doing? It's none of their damn business.
"Oh, really? That's cool." She gave them an abrupt, chipper smile - and not one that suggested cruelty or any sort of threat, just a smile. Some things, very few, made Ed's mind wander away from the topic of the Philosopher's Stone; her personality was one of them.
"Clair, right?" Ed questioned, unsure if he was thinking of the correct name. As he spoke, Ed noticed her star necklace had at some point change to a purple color, contrast to the turquoise from earlier. Huh... "Can you stay here with Al until I'm done?" Ed didn't feel so good about leaving Al and this girl together, but for some reason he sensed that he needed her there.
"Uh, of course!" Clair replied, smile never leaving her face.
"Brother," Al tried to whisper, though his armor echoed. He stepped away from Clair for privacy; Ed followed, "do you really think this is a good idea?"
"It'll be fine, Al. I won't take very long," Ed assured. Al didn't look so sure of that as his older brother left him with Clair The Human Bomb; Ed hoped she wouldn't blow up again.
How did she survive that blast in the first place? he wondered suddenly. Another baffling question he couldn't answer.
Ed walked into the building and navigated through hallways and staircases until he reached Mustang's office. The room was smaller than what the Colonel had at Eastern Command, but it did have the same paperwork sitting on the same desk with the same man sat behind them staring at Ed in the same way.
The younger alchemist barged in the room without being asked, shutting the door behind him, and took a seat on a black sofa by the desk; Mustang sighed at him and threw down his pen. Then, the man leaned back in his chair. "So, what did you find out?"
Ed stood up from his seat, suddenly impatient, and began pacing the room. "I don't know," he growled frustrated. "She's not a spy, or an alchemist, really. She talks as if she doesn't have a family, and...I get a weird feeling from her."
"Hm..." Mustang hummed thoughtfully, ruffling through his drawers for something. "I guess that's something you'll have to bring up with her." he concluded. The Colonel found a small piece of paper and handed it over to him. "The Fuhrer wanted me to give this to you."
Hardly as soon as he'd grabbed it, Ed started reading the fine, cursive print. I, Fuhrer King Brady, have assigned the Fullmetal Alchemist as newly appointed bodyguard of a young girl by the name of Clair Aragon. She will not be permitted to intervene with his studies and findings, but he must protect her from harm's way. From what my records have detected, she has no family, missing persons report, or anyone to take her in as their own. She will stay with him for the time being until next month during the State Alchemist Exams. She might need to learn a few things about alchemy, though, so good luck to all! Ed could almost imagine the Fuhrer grinning as he wrote the end.
"What the hell?" Ed gasped. "The Fuhrer wants me to let this girl come with me! And I gotta protect her?! Why did he give me this job? Why didn't he give it to you?" Ed squinted his eyes annoyed at the Colonel.
The note slipped into his pant's pocket before Mustang spoke. "I did read it, Fullmetal. I don't really like the idea of another teenager in the military, but I'm sure the Fuhrer has his reasons for doing this." He paused. "Well, anyway," Mustang sighed, changing the subject. "I have a bit of an assignment for you. Don't forget about the paperwork either."
"Yeah, yeah," Ed mumbled, letting his eyes slide away from his superior. "What's the assignment then?"
"Since I saw the Fuhrer's note, I'm going to give you an easy one; hardly even an assignment. I want you to head back to Eastern Headquarters with me. You three will stay at Shou Tucker's Estate for the next month until Miss Aragon has her exam. The estate has its own library with a good collection of books, so perhaps there's something there on the Philosopher's Stone."
Ed smirked thoughtfully. "Maybe I can figure out more about Clair while I'm there, too." His face became serious. "When are we leaving?"
"I'll meet you at the train station in an hour." Mustang informed with hardly an expression. Ed took that as a dismissal and left the room, shutting the door behind him. He headed down the hall, around a few corners, and down some stairs to tell his brother the news.
Ed found Alphonse and Clair sitting at the bottom of the steps talking when he got out outside; he attracted their attention. "Hey, Al, guess what? The girl is staying with us."
"Really?" Clair perked, turning around at the sound of his voice.
"What do you mean?" Al sounded almost happy, but he was obviously confused about why the girl was coming.
"According to the Fuhrer, we are now her bodyguards, so we have to 'protect her from harm's way'." Ed explained, putting on a sarcastic tone and making air quotes with his fingers - though he knew this was serious.
"What? Why?"
Ed shrugged at his brother's question, unable to answer. Even he was completely baffled. Why did Bradley want them to be her bodyguard? And...why would she need one for that matter? Ed frowned, thinking this, and walked over beside Clair. He sat down quickly, tucking his jacket underneath him. "Why the hell would you want to join the military, anyway?"
She seemed startled by his question, but replied anyway, her voice slightly tentative. "I didn't want to. The Fuhrer is making me."
Ed thought at first that she was lying, but something in her voice told him different. Why would the Fuhrer make her become a State Alchemist?
"Wha-what are you talking about? Ed, she can't join the military!" Al yelped, finally having wrapped his mind around the situation.
Clair leaned back with a sigh."I don't really have a choice, and my test is in a month."
The Elrics stayed quiet, contemplating the weirdness of it all, until Ed finally stood. "Well, besides that, Mustang gave me another assignment. We need to meet him at the station in an hour or so."
"What's the assignment?" Clair was the one to question him, obviously intrigued.
"We're going stay at the Tucker Estate until after you take your exam." Ed explained, his voice turning sour a moment later. "I still don't understand why you're doing that." Clair's eyes popped at his words; Ed frowned. "Is there something wrong?"
"It's nothing." she murmured quickly, putting on a fake smile.
This time Ed knew she was lying through her teeth, but he also knew that this meant he could figure her out soon enough. She was definitely crackable.
After staring at the girl for a moment, Ed shrugged deceptively and started down the stairs, stretching his arms behind his head like he liked to do. "Well, come on then. We have a bastard to catch."
When they arrived at the station, the teenagers found Mustang was bringing Hawkeye along with them - which was fine, since he was paying for the tickets anyway. The train came shortly afterwards. The two adults sat on the opposite side of the train from the kids, so they were left to their own devices.
Not that the three of them said much with a table in-between them. As the train slowly gained speed, Ed eventually yawned and laid his head against the window, quickly falling asleep with the sunlight reflecting off his golden hair.
Ed awoke as the sun start to dissipate across the sky, the light slowly fading as it set. He blinked tiredly, wondering how long he'd been asleep...
But when he glanced at the table beneath him, his eyes widened, and he was suddenly wide awake. There was a familiar circle drawn on the table. Markings were split in the middle with triangular shapes pointing in several directions, four of them at imaginary corners of the circle: Mustang's Flame Alchemy circle. Many equations and writings covered the rest of the table in black ink.
Swallowing his initial shock, Ed read one of the messy paragraphs upside down: 'The combination of triangles Fire and Air give way a coherent covalent bond between the air particles to form a spark between oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon atoms. This part of the transmutation helps particles A and B from being transposed indirectly within the air to form a chain reaction between relating particles.' Chemical and complex math problems involving quantum physics filled the other half of the table.
Clair was passed out on the other side of the table, using her crossed arms as a stick-like pillow. A black marker trail lied from one of the equations to where the marker sat next to the girl's limp hand.
"Ed, are you awake yet?" Al questioned, apparently not surprised by...that.
"Yeah," Ed murmured. "What is all this...?" The alchemist sat up from leaning against the window, its hard surface gave him a migraine.
"Well," Al started uncertainly. "Clair asked me for a marker after you had fallen asleep. I had one in my armor for safe keeping, but..." he trailed off into a dead silence.
"And..." Ed wanted him to keep going with his explanation before Clair woke.
"For the longest time, I didn't say anything. But when I tried to get her to stop, she wouldn't listen to me," Al paused. "It was like she was lost in her own little world. I-I couldn't believe she knew all this, and I still want to know how she knows it; even you don't know exactly how Colonel's Flame Alchemy works, brother."
Ed became more intrigued with the girl the more his brother spoke. He grinned. "I knew it! There had to be a reason the Fuhrer wanted us to protect her!" Ed tried his best not to let his shouting wake Clair or get Mustang's attention.
"Um...Ed," Al started up again; the older brother looked at him expectantly, "before I show you something...out of the ordinary, what is quantum physics?" Al seemed dumbfounded by the words.
"I'm not completely sure myself," Ed admitted. "but I do know that by putting electrons in certain formulas. It helps researchers study the subatomic level of molecules. Many alchemist don't use it because there isn't any need to, though." Explaining that made Ed think, normally people would think she was abnormally smart for her age, but Ed thought different. What if she...
"Seriously? That's really cool. Maybe she can help us with our research." Al's voice gained a chipper smile to it, but then it grew more serious when he spoke again. "Brother, look at this," Al reached over and lightly moved Clair's arm. A picture was shown beneath it. "Doesn't that remind you of something?"
Ed's eyes widened. "Y-yeah. That's that lion-snake Chimera we fought in Loire. But how does she know about it?" I doubt two chimeras could look exactly the same.
"She started to write out how it they're alchemically combined, but she fell asleep before she could finish," Al explained. Ed wanted to yell at Al for not waking him sooner, but, thinking about it, he was glad he hadn't. Clair probably wouldn't have written it with Ed watching her. But how? Ed thought. It's not possible, considering she's not really an alchemist, unless... He trailed off, thinking about himself and the Gate. The Gate... That's impossible. Ed decided, but he stored the words written on the table in the back of his mind anyway, locked away to never be forgotten.
Ed stared at the equations again and realized that, while most of the answers were organized with great detail, they were wrong by all measures. Hm...
Al poked the mysterious girl, while Ed noticed something about her necklace; it was an extremely dark obsidian color. Interesting.
Suddenly, Clair's fingers, hand, and parts of her arm started shaking violently. "Clair, wake up!" cried Al, nudging her with his hand.
Clair's POV
A sharp, searing pain pried deep into my core as I sat there, making my mind and heart race like two wolves fighting for the finish. My eyes burned and I filled terror; I didn't want Al to see me like this, so I had lain my hands on the table to use them as a comforter between me and the hard, dusty surface.
When I'd been working with Mustang's transmutation circle, I was hoping the pain would subside. For some reason, I wanted to show Ed and Al that I knew about alchemy. For a while the pain had faded... but then it suddenly hit me again in a wave of nausea, making me cringe. The agony pounded within my stomach, but the feeling was not a hunger pain.
I heard Al calling for me to wake up, but I was never really asleep. I wanted to tell him that I was okay, so don't worry about me! But my mouth wouldn't utter a word. Then, another agonizing shock shot through me; I tried to swallow it down with fear in my gut as it dug deep into my mind, but it shook a migraine into existence, rattling my skull.
I heard Al speaking. "...take her to the hospital once we get to Eastern."
"No, please don't do that," I told them quickly, my voice struggling. I knew the doctors might take blood samples or find out something worse that the brothers shouldn't know. I lifted my head slightly with my hands holding my forehead painfully. "I-I just need something to eat b-because I...I haven't eaten in three days, that's all."
"Three days?" Al gasped, shocked. "Well...we promise we'll eat once we get there."
"So, tell us, what is this?" Ed asked immediately, pointing at the stuff on the table. He didn't seem concerned at all that I was in pain or hadn't eaten in three days. Did he really care that little about me?
"It's Mustang's Flame Alchemy circle," I told him anyway. "I do this stuff when I'm bored. I'm sorry... I get lost in my head sometimes. You can erase it if you want." I glanced at the split circle as I spoke, only making my head and organs hurt more.
"You know you're wrong, though, don't you?" Ed tapped the table with his metal fingers. "These equations are completely off by more than one amount. First off, Pi is squared at the end and it's all divided by three..." he explained, letting it click in my head.
I gasped. "Of course! When you square Pi, it doubles the electron configuration because there's more than one set of eight electrons! Ed, you're genius!" I excitedly screamed, head still pounding. Ed smiled like his conceited self, but he seemed a bit confused. "Hey, will you teach me for the State Alchemist test?"
Ed's face clearly showed him fighting with himself for the answer, but he eventually decided: "Fine, I will. But you gotta show me this week what makes you so special, all right?"
"Ed, she doesn't have to prove herself. She wants to learn," Al assured, but was left unanswered.
I wasn't sure whether I should cry from knowing Ed would figure me out, or be joyful that Edward Elric, a State Alchemist as of twelve, would teach me. This was too much for my mind to withstand, so I remained emotionless until we arrived at Eastern an hour later.
I jumped out of my seat when the train came to a stop. My nausea flowed bitterly to where I supposed the Pure Stone still lay in my stomach, but the headache subsided. Ed grabbed his suitcase as he left his seat.
"Fullmetal," Mustang called as we stepped out together. "I'll meet you at headquarters in an hour to show you your new residents."
"Fine, whatever."
My feet were wobbly from sitting on the train for so long, and my legs were getting numb. Al, noticing this, had to ask, "Are you okay?"
"Fine." I answered. "Where are we eating at, anyways?" I asked calmly, trying not to look in any way abnormal; it was best if I just blended in with this huge crowd.
"I was thinking seafood or something..." Ed suggested.
I blinked. "No, not that! It would make me feel worse. Is there a Chinese, Italian, or Mexican restaurant? Surely in this big city-" I stopped, realizing the Elric brothers were staring at me, dumbfounded by my bizarre reaction. "Okay... I uh, I'll eat wherever you want to go."
Ed nodded, his expression curious, and pointed his nose in a seemingly random direction. "Follow me, then."
We stopped at a restaurant that looked like a small, humble store from the outside. A man swept the walk under a sign that read: 'We have it all. You name it, we'll serve it'. Seemed like a tiny old place. Probably had okay food, nothing gourmet...
Never judge a book by its cover: Inside the building, there hung many colorful and bright chandeliers and fans around numerous other decorations, while the crowd was quite small regardless, and it smelled marvelous.
A waiter in a neat white suit sat us at a booth that could hold maybe twelve people if it had to; he turned to Ed. "What can I get for you today, Master Elric?" the waiter asked, pausing to roll his eyes under his curly brown hair. "Or do I really have to ask?"
"Just the usual." Ed answered, a half smirk adorning his lips.
After writing a few words down on his notepad, the man turned his amber gaze on me. "So, what will it be for you, young miss?"
"Um...what do you have?"
"We have everything from raisin to elephant meat."
"Do you say that to all your customers? Because," I chuckled, "why would anyone eat elephant meat?"
The waiter frowned for a moment, then put on a grin, and laughed, "Hey, I like your attitude. I think I have the perfect thing for you. It'll all be ready in an hour."
A minute after the man had left, I turned my gaze to the short alchemist beside me. "So do you come here often?"
"Whenever we're around. It might not look like it, but this is the best and most expensive place to eat in East City." Ed replied. His hands sat on the top of the short booth in a slump position. Al sat in front of us behind the humongous table, which could roughly hold fifteen plates, give or take.
I thought of something. "You know, I never did erase what I wrote on that table..."
"It'll be fine!" Al exclaimed almost cheerfully, but I sensed a change in his tone, like...he didn't trust me. Of course, neither of them probably did after that... "They'll get someone else to erase it."
We stayed quiet then for most of the hour. I was in a very awkward position here; I wanted to say something, but I was afraid of spilling the truth to them. I was good at keeping secrets, but hiding secrets that intrigued Edward Elric... that was a completely different story.
"So...Clair. Where have you been?" Al asked, his tone slightly awkward. I gave him a confused look. "I mean, where did you live? What was your home-life like?" he paused. "Th-that is, if you're okay with telling us."
"It was nice. I miss my parents the most, though..." I whimpered at the end, not quite thinking about how they'd react.
"What happened to your parents, anyway?" Ed sounded harsh, leaning into the conversation.
"Ed! Don't be like that," Al chided his brother. "She's not here so we can interrogate her." He turned to me, his armor clinking slightly as he moved. "It's okay; we're here to help, if you want."
"No, it's okay. I don't mind you asking," I gave a bright smile to lighten the mood. "I'm not completely sure what country I'm from. I've traveled across the globe from country to country without any real direction," I easily spoke one of the most important lies of my entire life. Then I continued, quickly thinking up a good false answer for Ed's question that didn't involve death - because he may just get more suspicious of me if it did. "As for my parents: I was very young, maybe three or four, and living in the country side when a soldier came to our house asking for my dad. He had to go because of his 'job' as an alchemist, and later my mom was taken, too. Even today, I'm unsure of the reasons. I can barely even remember my parents' faces, but somehow I know what happened to them."
None of that was true of course; I could remember everything about my parents from my dad's brownish-green fuzzy beard to my mom's glasses, and both their smiles when I felt proud about my schoolwork was clear in my mind. (How could I forget my own parents in two days?)
"That's awful," Al's armor echoed with his sympathetic voice. "Our mother died when were young, too, and our dad left us."
"Yeah," Ed growled, glaring at the table with the memory in his mind. "That bastard didn't even have the nerve to come to her funeral." He paused and glanced at me almost sheepishly, like he hadn't meant to reveal so much.
I wanted to agree with Ed on that statement - their father leaving them like that was really wrong - but I felt sorry for their father. He had been through so much. Ed and Al couldn't imagine it, and they wouldn't believe me if I told them the truth.
The waiter came back finally with one...two...three...four trays? Each of the trays had about three more plates on them. I knew Ed ate more than a baby elephant everyday, but geez...that was a lot. The waiter handed me a few of the plates; one had a hamburger and a few little appetizers on the side, and the other had noodles with rice and beans. He handed me some iced tea as well, but this didn't have the taste of McDonald's sugar and watered-down tea. It actually tasted like...tea.
"What's this?" I asked the waiter after picking up something from my tray; it looked a bit like dark bacon...
"That's deer jerky. You just look like the kind of girl." he smirked and winked.
"What? Really?" I pulled my head back in surprise, then hesitantly tasted the jerky; it...it gave me a feeling of home.
"Is it good...?"
I paused for a while, lost in my own thoughts, before answering. I nodded. "Yes, thank you! Of course it's wonderful."
"I told you," Ed smirked. "this is the best restaurant in Eastern City. It might even be the best in Amestris." He chuckled, then started digging into his own plates; there were at least ten.
We finished around the same time, taking a half hour tops. Considering I had a lot less than him, that was impressive. "Your stomach feel better?" Al asked, sounding concerned.
"Yeah, much better." I half-lied. My stomach felt a bit better, but it still ached. Stupid stone. What was it doing? Next thing I knew, I'd probably sprout wings or something else ridiculous. Couldn't Truth at least have given me a bit of background information about this thing?
After Ed payed for our food, we headed to Eastern Headquarters. As we got there, I noticed something: the time. "Hey, weren't we supposed to meet Mustang an hour ago?"
"He'll get over it," Ed answered easily.
We headed through a labyrinth of hallways to the man's room. It was exactly the same as I'd imagined it: Same black, leather couches, and same Mustang in his same chair with Hawkeye organizing his drawers in the corner of the room. "I can't believe you took so long, Fullmetal," Same disapproving voice. "I never knew you to be a slow eater." Mustang stopped then, clearing his throat. I glanced at Ed, and all I could say was that glare wasn't pleasant. "Anyway, Lieutenant Hawkeye, will you take them to the Tuckers' Estate so I can finish these papers?"
"Of course, sir." Hawkeye gave a nod, then guided us outside the building to her car.
We all sat in the back with Al's armor taking up half the seat, resulting in a complete lack of elbow room. He said he was sorry, but that didn't help. Ed's automail was digging into my spine, and my knee was buried in-between his legs. I didn't know how I got into this position, but I was not amused. Edward wasn't the happiest camper in the world either. Thankfully nothing cut me... I didn't want to heal in front of them...
When Hawkeye opened the doors a while later, I managed to pull myself out of the car and gasped, "Yes! I can breath!"
We walked through the gate of Tucker's home and quickly trudged up the stairs. When Hawkeye knocked on the door, it opened up to reveal Nina. "Hellow?"
"Uh, hi there, is your dad home?" Hawkeye asked nicely.
The little girl nodded. "Daaddy!" She went running down the hall. "Someone is here to see you!"
Tucker came back with his daughter in his arms. "What did I say about opening doors for people without my permission, Nina?"
"I'm sowry daddy, but they looked nice," he whimpered, giving us all a small smile. I smiled back, though I really hate little kids. I guess, I was just glad I had a chance to change this girl's fate.
"Well," Tucker frowned, then gave his daughter a nice smile, "okay, dear, but will you let the grown-ups talk for a while? You go play with Alexander now."
"Okay!"
Suddenly, before Shou could tell us to come inside, a familiar white dog came bounding around the corner of the house and threw Ed to the ground. Alexander growled playfully and held the alchemist down. Ed didn't admit defeat until the dog started licking him. "Hey, what's the big idea, mutt?"
Tucker laughed, amused, along with his daughter. "Alexander, get off our guest," the man commanded; Alexander obliged. Tucker looked at us again. "Come in if you like." Al and Hawkeye nodded and he led us inside his 'cozy' home.
Why must I stay in a killer's house for a month? I internally complained. The world hated me so much...
After Hawkeye left a few minutes later, we talked for a good two hours among ourselves. Tucker was ecstatic that I had to become a State Alchemist without a choice, and his eyes popped at Ed once he realized he was the Fullmetal Alchemist. Basically, I had to get the boring, déjà vu stuff done before asking, "Where's your library?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I should give you a tour of our house," the man smiled and glanced around. "Sorry for the mess, though. We don't exactly have a mother's touch around here anymore."
"That's fine. Just tell me where the library is and we'll stay in there for a week without disturbing you," I decided rudely. He gave me a little glare, but it faded just as fast when he obliged to show us his books.
"I have some books about things even the National Library doesn't give information on," Tucker informed us when we got to the library, "so please take as much time as you want. You're going to need it if you're thinking of becoming a State Alchemist." He said without emotion. I wanted to smart mouth to him, tell him, I have to become a State Alchemist. It's not like I want to! But I realized it would be a bad idea to bring attention to myself like that. Ed was keeping enough of an eye on me.
When I said I wouldn't leave the library for a week, I meant it. Al gave me and Ed sandwiches to eat, often studying with us. Ed gave me a few alchemy-related tests, but, with my chaotic mind, I over-thought everything handed to me. One day, Ed lost his patience with me, and he left me and Al for a good four hours before returning in his "happiest mood ever".
Now my clock read Monday, the start of a new week. I'd been here a whole nine days. In barely over a week, I'd succeeded in learning the basics of alchemy from books. For the first three days I hadn't slept once because it was so interesting. I learned how Phosphorous was the material in our retina that helped us see in the dark after focusing on it for fifteen minutes. Cool, huh?
In time, I even became used to the constant ache in my stomach. I guessed that was just the stone's way of saying, 'I'm here!' Ugh.
"Hey, we're going out today," Ed announced, standing next to me - Ed really was short, wasn't he? I was only five foot, one inch, and somehow I was taller than him. He half-smirked, "I want to test your alchemy skills."
At first, I refused the idea. But after I thought about it... They were going to see me transmute sooner or later, right? We traveled a few miles before stopping on the outskirts of town near a tall oak tree. A gravel road beside us acted like a highway into the next town.
Al started drawing a simple array with one circle and a triangle on the inside, the one for water. Then he stepped back, and Ed nodded in approval. "See what you can do with that," the midget ordered.
I took in a deep breath, laying my hands on the edge of the circle like any young alchemist. Only problem: I had the Pure Stone. I thought it would be okay at first, but my gut began churning with an indecisive rage. "Get back!" I screamed at Ed and Al, realizing what was about to happen. I was too late though. Ed and Al were thrown backwards from the blast. Ed slammed against the oak tree, while his brother was thrown into the road. Water spewed in a fiery mist from the transmutation that scalded me to the touch.
As the steam faded, the brothers stood up, staring at me with widened eyes. I was, apparently, healing myself from the scorch marks on my skin. I had no control. I took a nervous step back. "Uh...th-this is not what it looks like."
Yay! I finished finally! Oh geez, I wanna write the next chapter now, but it's getting late here already. *sigh* Anyways...I loved it when you told me about your favorite last time, so... (I should've asked this first, because I've run out of fanfics to read for the time being...and I don't feel like looking either...)
Question of the Chapter: What is your favorite fanfictions? (FMA or non-fma related.)
Oh, and I wanna do this new thing. I have a creative writing for everyone! XP You can make this into one-shot or leave comment below of what you think would happen.
Winry and Ed had been through a lot, Ed had gotten his brother back and hadn't seen him in a while. This was before they had kids or even thought remotely that they would someday, so they decided to take a vacation with just the two of them. Ed wanted to get away from Amestris, somewhere not in Xing either, but in a country far away in distant lands. They traveled quite a bit before stopping at a country.
After living in the city for a few days, they noticed something very...off about it. The king had very cruel punishment for his victims in certain crimes. He didn't have a jury, but the criminal did have a say in his/her punishment. Every other day, people gathered in an arena just to watch what would happen to a criminal disrupting the city.
The man/women was given a choice in their fate, door one and door two. What they didn't know is what lied behind them, and the king was always amused by which door they would pick. Behind one would hold a admiring lad or lady that the criminal had to marry within the arena without a say in the matter. On the other hand, the other door laid a vicious chimera, or the kings pet. Let's just say, a scream was usually their last say on their dying breath.
Ed knew was very wrong. They weren't even proven as criminal or innocent before they were thrown in there... So what would Ed do to change this? Would he let Winry stay back or give her a duty to uphold while changing the ways of this society? And if someone does do a one-shot, I'll post one myself as well! :D
Thanks for reading!
Published: 11/25/13
Words: 6,173, or roughly 20 pages...
